What will you learn?

Interpret cultural artifacts or events as meaningful within a much broader context
of social processes and power relations

Analyze how the phenomenon of globalization is the most recent chapter in a long historical
narrative that dates back to the 16th century and the opening of the world's markets

Gain an appreciation of how media, from the silent movie to YouTube and from the telephone
to the iPhone, is always situated in a larger context — one that involves social,
political and economic factors

Examine how representations of gender and sexuality most often assume a natural identity,
which has the effect of normalizing or containing desire

Gain a deeper understanding of just how profound the American "experience" is shaped
and altered by historical context, socio-political influence, and class

Become a critical thinker and participant in a rapidly changing and information-saturated
contemporary global and media landscape

Become a skilled writer, proficient in the craft of argument and research methods

Consider how ideology functions as an everyday social practice, shaping our perception
of reality in ways that exceed one's own self knowledge

Study the major theoretical systems that led to the interdisciplinary analysis of
established disciplines in the post World War II era, and which precipitated the fields
of cultural studies, media studies and film studies